Billy Ward
In writing, the reveal is the key element that explains what has enabled a story to hold the reader's interest, and a component that is generally retained until the last possible moment. Many a book is judged by how well this is handled. If the work is strong, commonly this is because the finale contains a riveting reveal, yet it doesn't always mean this occurs at the very end of the story. More on this later.
Certain Genres Lend themselves to Great Reveals
By their very nature, mysteries and thrillers are the most obvious genres for which scintillating reveals would seem best suited. But romances, fantasy, YA, and every other genre demand a reveal. If not, a story's premise would never be accepted by the reader. Material falls short when the narrative doesn't finish with a powerful enough reveal. Simply, the ending doesn't live up to the plot elements. And nothing is more frustrating for a reader than to be left unfulfilled because a plausible "answer" didn't materialize.
At Times it Works Best to Write the Ending First
I often suggest to authors who habitually have struggled with endings to write them first. In this way, they can craft material to meet the standards their respective reveals require, and not the other way around. It's sort of like writing a joke, since commonly the punchline is created initially and the material leading up to it is figured out later.
The Reveal and the Denouement Can Be the Same, but Not Always
It's easy to slip into the mold of thinking that a reveal and a denouement are always interchangeable, but they aren't, and this is the point I was making at the end of the first paragraph of this article. For a literary example, in THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, while Quasimodo's bones turning to dust at the very end is indeed startling, the booties earlier being assigned to Esmeralda is the reveal the reader has been "waiting for."
Examples of Books with Great Reveals
Stories don't require the planet to be saved via a 24-style, heart-stopping set of reveals. What makes a work memorable--and as a byproduct, often remarkable--is a reveal that enables the reconciliation of an "open" plot element, or which adds and answers an unexpected twist set up by an earlier plot point.
Some of my favorite reveals are provided via the classics, with THE AGE OF INNOCENCE perhaps illustrating the quintessential example of a reveal, since the "entire story" happens 100,000 words into a 101,500-word work. In the more contemporary market, I liked the way Amy Tan finished THE JOY LUCK CLUB, E. L. Doctorow's treatment of BILLY BATHGATE, and Ken Follett's heart-warming conclusion to THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE.
Robert L. Bacon, Founder
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